SADC

Seychelles joined the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in September 1997 but withdrew in June 2003 due to financial and human resource constraints. On 17th August 2008 Seychelles re-joined SADC. The SADC headquarters is based in Gaborone, Botswana and Dr. Tomaz Augusto Salomao is the present Executive Secretary of the SADC Secretariat.

There are currently 15 member states in SADC: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar (suspended), Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The SADC vision is that of a common future, a future within a regional community that will ensure economic well-being, improvement of the standards of living and quality of life, freedom and social justice and peace and security for the peoples of Southern Africa. This shared vision is anchored on the common values and principles and the historical and cultural affinities that exist between the peoples of Southern Africa.

SADC has initiated and implemented a number of programmes, in which Seychelles is actively participating in:

1. o
2. SADC Free Trade Area – Seychelles is currently negotiating accession to the SADC FTA o
3. SADC UNIVISA o
4. CCARDESA o
5. COSCAP-SADC (Cooperative Development Of Operational Safety And Continuing Airwothiness Program) and CASP SADC (Cooperative Aviation Security Project)

As well as supporting Seychelles in combating piracy through the MASE Programme, SADC is actively involved in the mediation process in Madagascar and the organization drafted a Roadmap in restoring political stability to Madagascar.